Before you actually start with the prep....

Hey Guys,

For a long time now , I have been searching and collecting good books / tests for verbal / quant.
I wanted to be ready with the material before I actually start preparing and start with my plan.

I have had discussions with some of the senior members of this forum and they were very very supportive.
I took GmatPrep last week and scored 620 (49 , 27) , clearly I need some serious prep for verbal.

I have decided , rather started with below plan.
Please have a look if it helps:

Phase 1 : Collect material from websites / friends / buy some famous stuff. This is just random collection of the material from websites Or the very specific books which you know you will need for preparation . (OG / Manhattan SC)

Phase 2 : Take diagnostic test. I preferred GmatPrep. Go through all the answers , find the problem area. It is not necessary that you will be able to find it exactly in this phase . For example in my case , I got 18 incorrect in Verbal in the GmatPrep . approx. 6 incorrect in CR / SC / RC. So , evenif I know that I need to work on verbal , I don’t know if I should focus on SC /RC / CR. Maybe , I will find it soon in the next phases.

Phase 3 : Based on the problem area you have noticed , go through the available material. If necessary buy few more books. Selecting the best material is crucial phase and many books focus on the specific area and are famous for those (for example Manhattan is famous for SC , for CR many use Powerscore). Decide the amount of material you are planning to study from. (This majorly depends on how much time you have , how many months? How much time daily you are planning to put in?).

Phase 4 : Device a study schedule. This is very important as you don’t want to waste time studying something not so important and run short of time studying something you should do first.
I have divided my study plan in 3 sub-phases.
Sub – phase1:Major stress on the concept books and daily practice. Start with a good blend of the concepts and the practice examples. I am going to use practice material which is not so tough also I am not going to time my practice in this sub phase. Spend most of the time understanding the mistakes / tricks / short methods / strong areas / weak areas . Know yourself , see how good you are at Gmat. Analyze thoroughly any test you write.

Sub – phase2: Start timing the practice you do . Use the amazing tools walker has developed .They are very good. No bugs , nice way to keep a track of the study progress. Start using some difficult material like MGMAT / KAPLAN .Start increasing the number of the problems you take daily. Keep a good track of the errors you make. Keep on revising the notes you have made so far . Go through the books you have noticed once in a while . Analyze thoroughly any test you write.

Sub – phase3: Start taking more tests per week .Take some stress tests , maybe 2 on weekends. Analyze thoroughly any test you write.

Below are the books I am going to use during my preparation.

I. Verbal
1. Manhattan SC (Concept Book)
2. Manhattan CR Or Powerscore CR Bible (Concept Book)
3. Official Guide 11 (Practice book)
4. Official Guide 10 (Practice book)
5. Official Guide Verbal Review
6. PR Verbal Workout.(Good for RC)
7. 1000 Series
II. Quant :
1. Manhattan Quant series (Concept Book)
2. Official Guide 11 (Practice book)
3. Official Guide 10 (Practice book)
4. Official Guide Quantitative Review
III. Tests:
1. GmatPrep(2)
2. GmatClub challanges
3. KAPLAN(4)
4. MGMAT
5. Paper Test sets 21- 30

My target score is 750.
I scored 620 in the first Gmat I ever wrote (Gmatprep).

The plan looks impressive.
It will be interesting to check if I can follow it till the G-day and if I will reach the 750 mark (improvement of another 150 points.)

Sorry for such a long post.
Please let me know if it helps , please let me know if you have any suggestions.